The Birmingham Post & Mail newspaper announced last month that it may have to revert from a daily edition to a weekly, such is the pressure on local newspaper revenues.

So the sight of bulldozers moving in on its old site in the centre of the city next week will be symbolic for Brummies.

Birmingham Development Company, which bought the 500,000 sq ft former printworks in August for £5m, is beginning demolition of the bunker-like structure before submitting a planning application in November for a mixed-use scheme.

Alan Chatham, director of Birmingham Development Company, describes the scheme as a ‘sequel’ to the Mailbox – its 1.5m sq ft development nearby. It will have a tower of up to 24 storeys and provide up to 800,000 sq ft of offices, retail, residential and a hotel.

It has appointed Associated Architects and structural engineer Curtins to design the scheme and is aiming for completion by 2013.

Chatham, formerly of Argent and one of the developers behind Brindleyplace, is confident about the prospects of the Post & Mail site, despite the recession and signs nearby that developers are struggling. Overlooking the site is Snowhill 2, Ballymore’s office scheme that has been prelet to law firm Wragge & Co but where the cranes have lain idle for several months.

‘We are at or close to the bottom of the market,’ says Chatham. ‘There have been developers who have got into trouble but I don’t think we are in that position. We are not going to go ahead without prelets, but I really believe we will get them. There is a demand out there for what we are proposing.’

The Cube, which is the second phase of the Mailbox, is almost fully let, says Chatham.

‘And this is during a time when people say you cannot let residential schemes.’

Local knowledge

The Post & Mail site brings with it local memory.

‘The key thing about the site is the location,’ says Chatham. ‘Everybody in Birmingham recognises it, and the history of the newspaper there means that it is very much part of local knowledge. There is a real opportunity there to turn that part of town into a lively office district. Other than Colmore Square, there is really nowhere else for office workers to congregate at lunchtime or in the evenings.’

The first three storeys of the old printworks will be retained under the development plan, as will the three basement levels, which are expansive and once housed 12 presses. After that, anything goes.

Chatham wants the proposed scheme to be a microcosm of British Land’s Broadgate in the City of London.

‘That was a classic regeneration scheme, which has brought life to an area of the City that was never really thought of as office location before. That is what we can do here,’ he says.

Its viability is helped by two factors, says Chatham. First, the site was acquired for £5.2m, when the original asking price was around £15m. Second, the Birmingham Development Company will be using its in-house contractor, BuildAbility, to carry out construction. This, he says, allows him to keep a tight rein on the project and its construction costs.

The contractor arm employs 40 people and, adds Chatham, ‘takes six months off the construction process and saves us a lot of money’. It sits alongside the property management company, which is responsible for the Mailbox and Cube projects and employs 70 people, and the development company, which has a staff of 12.

‘BuildAbility gives us about a three-year turnaround before the project is delivered,’ says Chatham. ‘By the time we get on site at the end of next year, it is likely the market is going to look very different, so I don’t think we are taking a significant risk in this. We got the site at a good price, which has meant we can do a better scheme than might have been the case.

‘Of course, if the market were to crash again tomorrow, we wouldn’t do it.’

The absence of cranes from the Birmingham skyline has been noted over the past year. If all goes well with the planning process, at least the Birmingham Development Company will be able to prove that the city is still building.

It all sounds very promising - they're retaining the first three floors and we're getting a 24 storey tower at most. References to Broadgate - a great development. But then, Associated Architects..... they're not exactly accustomed to high-rise design are they? They've been close but this is a new ball game. I hope they come up with something similar to 134 Edmund Street but we'll see.

That's good news. Makes sense for them to roll over the buildability team from the Cube on to the next scheme.

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Not sure if there are any recent postings regarding this, but I was speaking to someone today, and it appears things are definately on the imminent move regarding the BDC conversion of the Post and Mail Print Works on Weaman Street (aka Snow Hill Plaza phase 2) to a mixed use dev...

What is the conversion of the basement from a carpark going to be into? I can see why getting rid of the carpark is a good idea but what if carparking was be needed around there when BDC have finished? That's why a complete overhaul might be cheaper.

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